Johnson Case
by AivriZaive
Summary: NCIS team is at the crime scene, investigating another body, when somebody comes to steal it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, I′ve finally managed to find a beta, so I′ll be replacing the already published chapters with beta-ed versions. It′s mostly just grammar corrections. Also, I′m trying to work on chapter 5, but life is still crazy, so it might still take some time.**

**PhillyCh3zSt3ak** **thanks, not only for correcting my mistakes, but also for explaining it.**

"Hi Duck. So what do we have here?" asked Gibbs as he approached the body. The older ME was squatting beside the dead man, sticking a probe in his liver.

"Well, Jethro, I can't say for sure, but it does remind me of a time, when I was..." Ducky replied. Gibbs looked around, their surroundings familiar to those of every other crime scene. A body left in some dead end alley, between the garbage cans and almost unused back doors to one supermarket or another.

"Tony!" Ziva's voice brought him out of his reverie.

"What?" Tony replied.

"Did you find something?" she asked him for the third time, rolling her eyes.

"Umm... his dog tags. They were lying over there," he motioned to a nearby wall with a small round hole in it.

Ziva took the evidence bag from Tony to look closely at the tags. "Hey, McGee!" she called for Tim, who was on the other side of the alley, photographing the rest of the crime scene.

"Yeah?" Tim replied.

"Our victim's name was Lieutenant Daniel Johnson," she told him as he came near. Tim already had his PDA in hand, typing furiously.

"Got it," he said. The whole team surrounded him, leaving Ducky and Jimmy to take care of the body. There were civilians milling around the yellow tape, trying to see what happened. "All right, single, age... Oh, this can't be right..." mumbled McGee.

"What can't be right?" questioned Gibbs.

"Lieutenant Daniel Johnson was declared KIA almost 2 years ago."

"So... this isn't Johnson?"

"But this is his file photo," Tim showed them. It was the same face that Ducky just pulled a bag over.

After a few minutes Tony broke the silence, "Does it say how he was killed?"

"No, just that he received an Air Force Cross, which itself is weird."

"Why?" asked Tony.

"It's an Air Force medal, not Marine Corps, given for an extraordinary heroism against enemy," Gibbs told them.

"He earned it," came a voice from behind them. Gibbs and McGee spun around. There was a man with salt and pepper hair standing at the entrance of the alley. A suspicious lack of people could be seen behind the tape, only three of the by-standers stayed.

"Excuse me, sir, but you can't go in here…" started Jimmy Palmer, who just saw the stranger.

"Mr. Palmer, could you help me take our dead fellow to the car?" interfered Doctor Mallard seeing Gibbs' expression.

"I'm sorry, but we have to take that body," the stranger said.

"We?" asked McGee.

Another man stepped up to the first and although this one was younger, with light brown hair and had glasses, they both were dressed in jeans, t-shirts and jackets and they both had an air of confidence around them.

Ziva's hand automatically slipped to the gun at her side.

The second man seeing that spoke up, "I'm sure we can come to an understanding without the need for shooting. Hi, I'm..."

"Space-monkey, what did I tell you?" interrupted him the first man, staring at him meaningfully.

"Oh... Sorry," said the other man and kept quiet.

"Why you want that body?" asked Gibbs.

"Johnson's one of ours. We leave no one behind."

"So it is Lieutenant Johnson?" said Ducky for confirmation.

"Yes."

"What did he get that medal for?"

"That's beyond classified," he answered.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Tony stated the question they all wanted to know.

The first man smirked, "That too, is classified. But we are here to take this case from you."

"I hate to disappoint you, but we don't just give our case. Lieutenant Johnson here is coming with us. Tony, Ziva, wrap it up. McGee, go help Ducky and Palmer, then take a ride with them. Or better yet, drive them." Gibbs' eyes never left the men before him.

"Yes, boss."

Tony with Ziva collected the evidence bags and went to take them to the car.

"It was nice talking to you, sirs," Gibbs told them and went with his team. The first man gave him a smile and a small wave. Gibbs' senses were on high alert, his gut telling him something was off. If he could just... put his finger on it.

He figured it out five seconds later as he focused on the scene before him. Tony was lying on the ground, with McGee above him, trying to protect him from a big African-American holding some kind of weapon. Ducky and Palmer were nowhere to be seen. Ziva and a tall, blond haired woman were fighting, their guns lying out of reach, but there was no telling who'd win. Gibbs, his own 9mm already in hand, turned to the first two men. The younger one was already aiming at him and the other was... having a phone call?

"...You sure? No, of course I'm not questioning your orders, sir. But we almost..." He was obviously interrupted by the person on the line. He sighed, "That'll be a tough one, sir. And we don't have the paperwork with us. Umm. Yes. Ok. Good-bye, sir. Tell him we'll be waiting. No. Probably." He hung up and took a deep breath. "Put it down, Daniel, he's a former sniper. They don't miss. Carter, stop! You too, T."

The younger man holstered his pistol, as the African-American strapped his 'thing' back to his thigh. The blonde however kept rolling on the ground with Ziva.

"Carter!" barked the man. She looked up at him, receiving a punch in her abdomen.

"Ziva, enough!" called Gibbs.

Both women cautiously crept away from each other, picking up their guns along the way.

"Where are Ducky and Palmer?!" growled Gibbs, his own gun pointed at the first stranger.

"Ehm, T? Where are they?"

The African-American's lips quirked into something akin of smile. He opened a back door of the NCIS wan and unzipped first, then second body bag.

"Duck, you ok?"

"Do I look ok to you, Jethro?! I was stuffed in a bloody body bag, for heaven's sake!"

"My apologies, Doc, but we couldn't let you leave," replied the still unknown man, who now came up beside the blonde woman. He leaned in closer to her, "Change of plans. The higher-ups decided they can trust them. Davis is going to meet us at headquarters in about an hour," he whispered.

"Yes, sir," she said slowly.

"Well, then... Gibbs, is it? I believe, you want to take us to the custody. We'll go willingly and answer your questions, if we can, but we are to stay together at all times. Danny, T, give them your guns."

"You sure, Jack?"

"Yes, Space-monkey."

Daniel just nodded.

Jack and his team stripped of the weaponry, including zats and handed it over to McGee. Ziva was able to wake up Tony and Gibbs was piercing them with his stare: "Why?" he asked finally.

"We had our orders."

"Which were...?"

"Why don't we discuss this in more private place. And I'm sure, the necessary paperwork will already be there. Then we can tell it without skipping confidential parts."

"All right. Get in the car."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: All right, this doesn´t fit in the specific time-line in Stargate, nor NCIS. I´ll try not to mess it up too much, but can´t make any promises. Also a beta-ed version, thank you ****PhillyCh3zSt3ak.**

**Hope you like it. Reviews are appreciated. **

Tony was standing in the observation room, intensely staring at the person on the other side of the mirrored glass. He didn't even turn, when the door opened and shut behind him.

"Should've figured you'd be here," said Ziva, coming up to him.

"Hmm?" he asked distractedly. Inside the interrogation room sat the tall blonde woman. As she looked to her more closely Ziva noticed, that the other woman was quite beautiful. Not the modern tons-of-make-up-and-bones-sticking-out-thin beautiful, but a natural beauty. Five foot nine or ten, slim, but strong as Ziva had the honor to find out. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, black tank top and a light leather jacket. She had a short, platinum-blonde hair, her big crystal blue eyes were now closed in concentration.

"I don't think you can be more see-through."

"What?"

"Close your mouth, or you'll have spittle on your shirt."

"Hey, I'm not..." Tony said before being cut off.

"You're not what, DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs upon entering the room.

"Nothing, boss. Has McGee found something?"

"No..." his cell started ringing. "Gibbs. Be right there, Director."

"Director, Agent Gibbs... is coming," finished Cynthia exasperatedly, as Gibbs was already inside.

"Agent Gibbs, could you at least knock, before you barge in?!" asked annoyed Director Jenny Shepard. He just looked at her. "Yeah, that's what I thought," she said under her breath. "Let me introduce you to Major Paul Davis, US Air Force. Major, this is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

They shook hands and Davis smiled politely at him. "Pleasure to meet you, Special Agent. I've heard a lot about you. I work at a Pentagon as a liaison officer between the government and the SGC and I need to speak with Colonel O'Neill, who's currently locked up in your interrogation room."

"Why?" asked Gibbs.

"Well, actually, I have some paperwork to process with your team and Colonel's, so they can read you in. It will need to be in MTAC, as that's the only secure place for these kind of information. And since I have a briefing in about..." he looked at his watch: "...an hour with some higher-ups, may we hurry up?"

After a while Gibbs nodded and flipped his cell phone, "DiNozzo, gather in MTAC and bring our guests."

Jenny made her way to the doors too, when Major stopped her: "I'm sorry, Director, but I have specific orders. Only Agents Gibbs, DiNozzo and McGee."

"I beg your pardon? Major, I have far higher clearance than..." Jenny stated.

"Ma'am, I'm only a Major and my clearance in this matter highly supersedes yours and that of SECNAV," interrupted her Davis quickly. However, when he turned around he came face to face with Gibbs' glare.

"Officer David is part of the team," he said quietly.

"Agent Gibbs, I'm not the one who decided this. You'd have to talk to Colonel O'Neill."

"Okay, let's go talk to him."

"Agent Gibbs! Can I speak to you for a moment, please?" Jenny wasn't giving up so easily.

"I'll wait outside," Davis said and closed the door behind him.

"Jethro, what do you think you're doing?! You know I cannot put NCIS resources into investigation which I know nothing about!"

"Oh, come on, Jenn! Just because they won't tell you any details we should lose the case?" replied Gibbs.

"That's not...!"

"Of course it is, Jenn. But I will not let some flyboy investigate a marine's death. Good day, Director."

He made his way to MTAC with Major Davis, where the others were already waiting.

"Ziva, go find out what Abby has," told her Gibbs.

"But Gibbs..."

"Go," he said, giving her The Look.

"Fine," she huffed and left.

"Good afternoon, sir. May we start with the paperwork?" Davis asked.

"Davis," nodded Jack, "Why, you have a hot date?" he grinned.

"If you could call a meeting with Mr. Woolsey a hot date..." started Paul.

"Ack! That's TMI." The three men and a woman laughed, the big one's lips just twitched in amusement.

"So I see they took your advice, Carter."

"Jack, I don't think it would be that easy," said the younger man, looking carefully at Gibbs.

"Colonel O'Neill, I have just one question: what would you do, if you were given a job and Ms. Carter..."

"That'd be Major Carter..." interrupted him Jack.

"...and Major Carter was told to stay away?"

"Well then, for an occasional exception, we'd be screwed, considering she is a genius who can pull last-minute miracles out of her..."

"Sir!" jumped in named person.

"I was gonna say _hat_, Carter," grinned Jack, "and I'm sorry, but that doesn't apply here. And even if this whole agency would stand behind Officer David and swear her loyalty I wouldn't be able do anything about the fact, that the Joint Chiefs decided not to grant her clearance," finished the Colonel.

"I think that boss' point applies perfectly," said McGee, "I mean not the genius part, but the miracles-pulling one."

"Agent McGee, I will tell you this: why don't we go through the paperwork, then I will tell you about our last mission and then you can decide, whether or not I'm right."

"Fine, what's the paperwork about?" asked Gibbs.

"Davis?" nodded Jack.

"Yes, sir. It's a standard non-disclosure agreement, which signing commits you to secrecy about everything you'll hear. The only ones you'll be able to discuss this matter with is selected SGC personnel, Joint Chiefs and the President. Not your Director, not SECNAV, not senators, not your spouses or loved ones. If you don't want to sign, I'd like you to leave this room."

Tony and McGee were looking at Gibbs, who was eyeing up the Colonel. Jack patiently returned the look, playing with a pen in his hands. After a while Gibbs reached for the pen and signed where Davis pointed. A slight hesitation later McGee followed suit, the last one being DiNozzo, still scowling at the Colonel for leaving Ziva out of this. When everything was settled Paul took the papers and made his leave.

"So, where do we start...?" said Jack.

"What about introductions?" came Tony's reply.

"I thought you already looked for our files?" asked O'Neill.

"Sir, after the situation with Colonel Makepeace I was asked by the General to review the information on all SGC personnel, and after that I stored it on a secured server on base. They aren't able to find any information." jumped in Carter.

"You couldn't do that. It's impossible to find every bit of information on one person, let alone a whole base!" disagreed McGee.

"Major?" O'Neill asked.

"Well, sir, I've had a little friend to help," she smiled.

"That's what you've been doing with Thor in your lab all that time?"

"Yes, sir. We crossed the interface of his ship's computers to my laptop." O'Neill just chuckled.

"But that's not..." started McGee again.

"Did you find something, Agent McGee? Our addresses, e-mail accounts, phone numbers, names even?"

"Well... No."

"And that's why."

"Ok, kids, let's get back to topic here," said Jack, "I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, two l's. This is Major Samantha Carter, also USAF, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Teal'c. We work for a top-secret government program called the Stargate Program. Daniel, would you care to explain?" Jack turned to the younger man.

"Sure. In 1928, Giza a group of archeologist unearthed an ancient device called Stargate. This device was capable creating and maintaining a stable, artificial wormhole which allowed people to travel to other planets..."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Finally managed to find some time to write. I′m reposting chapters 3 and 4 today and immersing myself into writing chapter five, so hopefully it won′t take too long. So this is the beta-ed version. Thank you ****PhillyCh3zSt3ak.**

"Abby?" called Ziva from the corridor. "Abbs!" she tried again over the loud music and Abby's singing. The scientist continued typing something on the computer, occasionally sipping from her Caf-Pow. Ziva came in, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Ziva!" the other woman jumped. "You′re as sneaky as Gibbs!" she accused, when she turned off the music.

"He wants to know, what you found," said Ziva.

"If he wants to know, he should′ve come," pouted the scientist.

"He′s upstairs, frying our guests," answered the Israeli, keeping her face straight.

"Of course he is," mumbled Abby.

"Fine then, I′ll start with the weapons of our mysterious group upstairs. The handguns are Beretta M9, standard for the US Navy, the Army and the Air Force. All of these are registered in the AF database, but their exact owners aren′t listed. The knives are also standard issue. As for the other weapons I haven′t seen anything like that. Ever." She took one of them in hands. "Major Mass Spectrometer got all confused. He found trace amounts of carbon, chromium, iron, and phosphorus, basic components of steel. But the main element is unknown. I mean, there are some elements that we′re yet to discover, but one of the anticipated features is high natural radioactivity. And, according to my measurements, these weapons emit only 12.5 micro Sievert, which is an average dose of background radiation per day."

"So you′re telling me you don′t know, yet…," she added after Abby shot her a look, "…what is this made of?"

"Yeah."

"How about what it does? How does it work?"

"That is actually the one thing I was able to find out something about. Come here," she took her to the back room, where she picked up one of the weird weapons.

"This is some kind of safety," she showed Ziva, then aimed inside the ballistic tunnel and fired. The blue energy ray ricocheted from its walls, until hitting the back. "The ray seems to be made to stun, but not to do any permanent damage. Still, I′d rather not test it on someone," she said and put it back on the table. Both women made their way back to the first lab room. "As for our victim the DNA confirmed his identity being Lieutenant Daniel Johnson. Twenty-three, single, last known place of residence: MC base in Barstow, California. He got transferred about eight years ago. His old commander told me that Johnson just one day got some confidential orders, the next day the CO′s CO came in, told him Johnson is being stationed somewhere else to help with some classified project."

"Hmm, that′s weird. Did you find anything on that project?"

"No. Not what is it, not where is it based, not who is leading it, not how is it connected with USMC... Not a damn thing! And that I don′t like!" she growled, understandably upset.

"Don′t worry Abby. You′re the best in what you do, so I′m sure you′ll find something out."

"That I am. And I won′t give up, until I find out every single thing about Johnson and the person who killed him!" promised Abby, already concentrating already on her screens. "Now, let the master do her magic," she waved Ziva out.

"Bye," smiled Ziva, entering the elevator. Her cell started ringing: "David. Hello, _Abba_..."

"That′s completely insane!" exclaimed Tony quietly when they took a break. He was talking with Gibbs and McGee in a corner of the room. "I mean, are they actually trying to persuade us that they were traveling to other _planets_ these last five to six _years_?"

"I know, but..." Tim trailed.

"But what, McGeek?"

"But... they don′t look like they′re, you know, crazy," said Tim hesitantly replied.

"A lot of crazy people don′t look like they′re crazy. In Lord of the Rings Boromir also didn′t look crazy until he died. It doesn′t have to mean anything..."

"Yes, it doesn′t, but still..."

"You′re saying you believe what they told us?" asked Tony disbelievingly.

"Well..."

"Boss, do you believe them too?" DiNozzo turned to Gibbs, who was the whole time watching the group on the other side of the room. Colonel was talking animatedly with Dr. Jackson, while Major Carter took a place at one of the computers closest to them, squinting at the screen in concentration. Teal′c on the other hand stood with hands behind his back, his face expressionless. As Gibbs continued his observation a worried look suddenly crossed Major′s features. She stood up and went to O′Neill, whispering something to him. Colonel′s features tensed. He said something to her and Carter nodded and went back to computers.

Jack took out his cell phone, "Sir, we have a Code 7. Yes. No. Not yet. Of course. Yes. That′d be great. Will do, sir. Goodbye." He finished his call and looked up straight at Gibbs, who immediately went to doors.

"DiNozzo, McGee, stay here," he said.

And O′Neill ordered: "SG-1 stay put. Carter, if anything changes, I′ll be just outside."

At a chorus of: "Yes, sir/Jack/O′Neill/boss," they made their way outside and into the elevator.

Jack hit the stop button, "We need to talk."

Jethro managed to maintain straight face, although a little curiosity slipped: "About what?" he asked eyeing the Colonel.

"A problem. Someone got into one of your computers in MTAC and was monitoring our conversation."

"Do you have any idea who it was?"

"No. Carter′s working on it. And I need to speak with your liaison."

"No."

"That wasn′t a question."

They were staring at each other trying to persuade the other one.

"Why?" asked Gibbs finally.

"She received a phone call from Israel not two minutes after we took a break. The call was expertly encrypted."

Jethro thought for a moment. "I′ll talk to her," he offered.

Jack considered it. "Fine. But not here and I′ll be there," he conceded.

"Fine. We still need to talk about that clearance for Ziva. And also for Abby Scuito."

"Actually Abby already has one," said O′Neill.

"What?"

"Yeah, she helped us solve a minor problem about a year ago," Jack smiled at the memory of enthusiastic scientist with all her tattoos and voodoo dolls.

"So she knows about what you do?" asked Gibbs.

"No, it wasn′t necessary to tell her. She just has the clearance. But I′m sure Carter will be glad to tell her."

"Why?"

"She and Abby are cousins."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Also a beta-ed version thanks to PhillyCh3zSt3ak. This chapter is slightly different than the originally posted. Please read and review.**

It was first in the almost six hours SG-1 was left alone. Gibbs′ team needed to finish some tasks, before they′ll all gather at Jethro′s house to discuss the next steps in investigation. Daniel decided to go on a hunt for coffee and Teal′c joined him in need for some nourishment. Jack came to stand face to face with Sam: "You ok, Carter?"

"Sir?" asked Sam, confused.

He pointed to her arm, wrapped around her middle. "Oh... It′s nothing, at worst I′ll have a couple of bruises."

Jack gave her a look, but let it slide. "Ok. Did you find anything?"

"Not yet, whoever's doing this, they′re good. Umm, sir? I think Agent McGee′d help..."

"He wasn′t even able to find our names, Carter."

"Sir, Thor helped me hide that information. No one is or will be able to find that out. But agent McGee got pretty damn close with the tech he has access to," argued Sam.

"I wasn′t dismissing the idea, just pointing out that I know about another person with clearance, who can help," grinned O′Neill.

"Sir?" asked Sam confused.

"I heard Abigail Scuito works right in this facility... Why don′t you go get her, so we can debrief her?"

"Of course, sir," she smiled.

"What does one need to do to get a hug here?" asked Sam upon entering the lab.

"Sammy!" cried out Abby and rushed to give her the requested hug.

"Hello Abbs," chuckled Carter.

"What are you doing here? And for how long are you gonna stay? Where are you staying? And why didn′t you call or send an e-mail that you′d be here?"

"Abby, slow down. As for what am I doing here, Agent Gibbs arrested us."

"Oh no, he didn′t... Wait, us?"

"He doesn′t know you′re my cousin. And yes, the others are here too. C′mon, the Colonel wants you up in MTAC."

"So are you gonna tell me why Gibbs arrested you?" asked Abby in the elevator.

"We, uh, wanted to steal a body," Sam admitted sheepishly.

"No, you are the ones that stuffed Ducky and Jimmy in a body bags?" asked Abby incredulously.

"Oh, I′m sorry about that. Teal′c needed to make sure they wouldn′t escape and thought this would be less painful than a zat bolt," blushed Sam a little.

"You mean that thing which fires the blue energy rays?"

"Yes."

"Sam, I ran some tests on it and..." Abby bit her lip.

"Abbs, I′ll explain it to you in the evening, over dinner, sounds good?"

"What?" she asked, but Carter already had her retina scanned and was opening the door to MTAC.

"Abby, long time no see," grinned O′Neill.

"Jack!" smiled Abby and ran to give him a hug.

"You look great, by the way," the Colonel complimented her.

"You too."

"Well, Daniel′s the cause of most of the silver hair. The rest is on your cousin."

Abby chuckled lightly. "I′m sure of that."

"Hey! I can hear that!" said Sam.

"On a more serious note, Abby, do you remember the non-disclosure agreement you′ve signed when you worked with us?"

"Of course, why?"

"Well, you′ll now get to know why it needed to be signed. For a start, let′s just say, everything you′ve believed in is true. At least in some other universe, right Carter?"

"Yes, sir," Sam grinned lightly, pulling her cousin into a seat next to her, while starting: "In 1928, Giza, Egypt..."

"Ziva!" Tony hissed at her from around the corner and motioned for her to come close.

"What do you want?" she asked. He just continued into the elevator, with her trailing behind him. Inside, Tony pushed the button for the top floor. "Where are we going, DiNozzo?"

"I need to talk to you," they got out and went to the stairs to roof. "They told us we couldn′t work on this case, unless we sign a non-disclosure agreement. And since Johnson was a Marine..."

"You signed it, so you shouldn't be discussing it with me, Tony."

"You are part of the team! And rule number 15 is 'Always work as a team!' And then some flyboys come in and throw you out..." he got interrupted by his ringing cell. "It′s Gibbs," he said before picking up. "Yes, boss?"

_"Get your ass down here. And bring Ziva with you."_ The call ended.

Tony growled in frustration. "We are both expected downstairs. I don′t understand it! They come in, tell us a tale, and then expect us to just believe them! I mean c′mon, a real al-."

Ziva put her hand over his mouth and stopped him before he could finish. "Tony! I understand. They don′t trust me. They′ve got the orders from your president. Tony, I′m not a NCIS agent, I′m a Mossad officer. And as much as I′d like to be with you on this case, I understand."

"You′re not at least a little bit mad?" he asked incredulously.

She got back into the elevator. "Oh, I am mad. But I′m saying I understand. I know you wouldn′t let some flying boy investigate a Marine's death."

"Flyboy, Ziva. It′s a nickname for Air Force officers," DiNozzo couldn't help, but point out.

The Israeli just shot him a warning look. They went back to bickering until they met with Gibbs and O′Neill outside MTAC, who both had unreadable expressions on their faces.

"Agent DiNozzo, you do realize I can get you arrested for treason and sent to a place where no one will be able to find you?" asked O′Neill quietly.

Tony′s face paled.

"I′m not going to do it, but take it as a warning. You should thank your team-mate for having enough sense to know the meaning of the word _non-disclosure_. One would think that English was her first language, not yours," continued the Colonel with the same quiet voice.

"As for you, Officer David, me and Agent Gibbs have a couple of questions. But first, let′s round up my team and the rest of yours and have something to eat."

"And I believe DiNozzo is buying." added Gibbs.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I know it′s been maybe too long and for that, I deeply apologise. Let′s just say these past months have been crazy. Anyway, here is chapter 5, hope you′ll like it. I give my thanks to ****PhillyCh3zSt3ak. Please read and review.**

Both teams plus Abby made their way to Gibbs′ house and ordered Chinese for dinner. The tension was almost tangible between the NCIS agents and SG-1. When they arrived, Gibbs, O′Neill, and Ziva disappeared into the basement. The rest of them sat around the living room, slowly eating with only a little small talk passing in between. Every now and then each one would cast a glance towards the door to the basement. Tony took to pacing nervously after discarding his empty food box (Tim hid the rest of the food), occasionally murmuring under his nose. Daniel was quietly talking with Teal′c, both of them watching the Senior Field Agent from the corner of their eyes. Sam was sitting at the kitchen counter, simultaneously typing orders into her laptop and bombarding Tim and Abby with other ideas for finding the hacker.

"What did your father want, Ziva?" asked Gibbs, motioning Jack and her to sit down, while taking a seat by the table with instruments strewn all over it, along with small pieces of wood and dirty cloths, dust covering everything.

The Mossad Officer chose to lean against the handrail by the stairs and was watching O′Neill cautiously.

"Father will be visiting and asked for a dinner with me," she answered, with a glance in Gibbs′ direction.

O′Neill also remained standing, arms crossed. His brown eyes were piercing Ziva with a cold stare, making her want to curl up and hide somewhere. In defense, she stuck out her chin as if challenging him.

"When?" she heard Gibbs′ next question.

"Next week."

"Why?"

Hers focus finally shifted from O′Neill to Gibbs fully: "He wants me back in Israel. Said he′ll assign another officer as a liaison to NCIS."

Jethro maintained his poker face as if it meant nothing: "Did he tell you why?"

"No."

"Did you ever gave him information about NCIS or any of the other US agencies which could Mossad use as an advantage in pursuit of their goals that involve the United States."

"No."

"Did he ever asked you for this information?"

"No."

Gibbs nodded and turned to O′Neill: "Do you have any other questions?"

Jack looked at Gibbs: "Yes. Would you mind if we speak in private?"

Jethro′s expression hardened: "No."

"Gibbs, it′s ok. Go make sure DiNozzo doesn′t eat everything," Ziva said, looking her boss in the eyes.

Jethro nodded: "Colonel." It was a warning.

"Agent," Jack understood his position.

"Officer David, I′m Colonel Jack O′Neill, US Air Force," Jack finally sat down on the stool next to the boat.

Ziva frowned, frustrated. There was something about him, she couldn′t put her finger on.

"What do you want to know, Colonel?"

"I have some questions, that are not part of this…" he waved his hand between them.

"Questions about…?"

"About Ari Haswari, your brother?" said O′Neill.

"Half-brother…" whispered Ziva, surprised to hear Ari′s name. She couldn′t believe it′s been so long. How he had changed, her childhood best friend. A memory flashed before her:

_She was standing under the wall Ari was currently climbing, hissing in a low voice: "Ari! Ari, come down! If Mrs Lemberg catches you again, the father will punish you! Ari!" _

_"Ziv, don′t be a baby and keep watch! After all, it was you, who said Mrs Lemberg had the best pears in the city."_

_"Yes, but I didn′t say you have to steal them! Sarah would′ve brought us some if I asked her."_

_"And where would be the fun in that?" Ari grinned mischievously from the top of the stone wall…_

"Half-brother," repeated Jack. "He was killed right here, was he not?"

"Yes," Ziva′s eyes fell, to the spot on the floor, where Ari last stood.

_"…guess, you′ve trusted your life into wrong hands, Jethro," came the voice from downstairs. Ziva took out her gun and clicked off the safety._

_"Did I?" was the agent′s response as she crept on the landing. "Why would you think so?"_

_"You have to know they′ll never believe I killed Kaitlin and the others just because I could, not without evidence."_

_"And you think you haven′t left any."_

_"Oh, I′ve left plenty. But with you out of game it′ll take months until they appoint someone even remotely capable of putting it together. And you know how it is, evidence disappears minute by minute. So, what shall I say were the last words, Jethro?"_

_"I′m sorry," Ziva spoke up from the landing, as she took the shot._

"Gibbs…" she started but didn′t know what to say.

"Officer, I know it was you, who shot him," Jack interrupted her. "It′s ok, I won′t tell anyone. No, I wanted to ask, if you knew about Haswari′s time in Iraq, 1991?"

"What?"

"Did you know your brother′s assignment during the Gulf War? As his control officer, I imagine, you must′ve read his record."

Ziva started, confused: "Yes, I′ve read his record, but, if I remember correctly, he wasn′t in Iraq, during that year."

"Hm, where was he then?" asked Jack.

"I… I don′t know, I don′t remember his entire record," Ziva said defensively.

"And yet, you say he wasn′t in Iraq," Colonel said internally cringing. He was starting to sound like a Richard Woolsey. Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair, making it stand every-which-way: "Look, I′ve… met… with your brother in an Iraqi prison and… What I′m trying to say is… not a thank you for killing him, nobody should ever say that. But I want to say thank you, that you stopped him, even if the cost seems too high."

Ziva was mutely looking at her shoes, Ari′s face as she shot him, flashing before her eyes, knuckles turning white on her tightly closed fists.

Jack waited, carefully studying her posture. After a while he got up, "Should I sent in Gibbs, or maybe DiNozzo?"

She just shook her head.

Jack nodded to himself, Gibbs it is, and went upstairs.

Ziva heard the click of the doors behind him, still trying not to tremble. She was a trained assassin, she killed for a living. Something like this should not get to her!

But… It wasn′t just nobody. It was her brother. Her protector. Her hero. Her best friend.

She didn′t hear Gibbs come in. Only felt a tug at her hand as he pulled her into a hug: "It′s ok, Ziver. I′ve got you."

**A/N: Originally, I was planning on ending this chapter way differently, but in the end, the story can′t be tamed and it chose it′s own path. I hope you like it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi, yes, I know it was long, and I′m sorry, but I′ve started my studies this year and that comes first, so forgive me for not having enough time to write. As per usual, read and reviews are appreciated.**

By the time they came upstairs, there were only Tony, Tim and Abby left waiting. Ziva got her emotions under control but was still confused. She was a trained Mossad Officer _and_ an NCIS Agent, for heaven′s sake. How did this unknown, seemingly ordinary Colonel manage to break through all of her defenses, not to mention in a span of a few minutes? Yes, she knew the outside rarely showed what was inside, and yes, Ari was a sore spot, but only her father and Gibbs should've known what had really happened that night. Gibbs didn't push her to talk, and Eli only spoke of the following missions with her. She would have to find out how the Colonel did know, how much he knew and also about the other thing he told her. The hard part will be doing it all on her own. There was no way she could tell anyone on the team and her Mossad contacts were out too. But, since she didn't have the clearance and therefore wouldn't be helping with the investigation, she had a lot of time for research.

"Ziva!" cried out Abby and rushed in for a hug.

"I'm okay, Abby," said Ziva. She looked over the scientist's shoulder into Tony's eyes, nodding slightly. After a moment of contemplation, he nodded back, the corner of his lips twitching slightly up in a quick smile.

"We've saved you some food, Ziva," McGee handed her the container after Abby let her go.

"Thank you, Tim."

They sat down in the living room, enjoying small talk, while Ziva ate. Afterward, they all bid Gibbs goodnight and made their way to their respective homes.

"Yes, sir. I understand. No, I'll tell him. Goodbye, General." Jack hung up the phone. "Damn paper-pushers!" He made his way over to the bed and sat down. They were staying at a three-star hotel, close to the center of DC. Both rooms had walls covered in a wallpaper with simple flowery design and windows facing towards a still quiet street.

"Your leaders refused to give Officer David a clearance," came more of a statement than a question from Teal'c.

"You got that, Teal'c."

"Do you want me to tell them, Jack?" Asked Daniel, who was leaning against a wall, looking out the window.

"No, I'll tell them. Thanks. So... How about breakfast?" Asked O'Neill, after checking his watch.

"Yep."

"Some sustenance would be most appreciated, O'Neill."

"Good-morning, sir, Daniel, Teal'c," Sam came from the bathroom, dressed in fresh clothes.

"Morning, Carter."

"Good morning, Major Carter."

"Morning, Sam. Breakfast?"

"Yeah, I need some coffee."

"Okay then, let's go campers," Jack rose up from his seat on the edge of the bed.

Ziva was steadily making her way through a pile of backlogged mission reports, while simultaneously digging in Mossad database for missions in Iraq, around 1991, on her laptop. She couldn't risk using her work computer. She will look for information on Colonel at home after work. None of the team were in yet, not even Gibbs. A couple of minutes later Ducky stopped by on his way to autopsy. After half an hour Gibbs walked into the bullpen, standing before her desk to look into her eyes. When he found what he wanted he just nodded and continued to his own desk. Not long after Gibbs, Tony and Tim came, arguing about something or the other: "...no, I've already told you, McElf, if you want it to work, you need to have a lot of practice. You can't just achieve my level after a first try, I've honed this skill for twelve years..."

"Tony, I don't want to do that. It's not my style..."

"Yeah, well, what is?" Mumbled Tony. McGee shot him a look.

DiNozzo put the extra paper cup in his hands on Ziva's desk, along with a paper bag containing a croissant and two cinnamon rolls. A loud whistle came from the balcony to director's office.

"Hey, campers, we have a case to solve, so what are you waiting for?" O'Neill yelled from upstairs.

Ziva stayed seated, as the guys went with O'Neill to MTAC.

"...wasn't necessary to yell, I would've gone down to get them, Jack!" they heard from the half-opened door.

"Yes, mom," was the reply.

"Jack..."

"Daniel..."

"Jack!"

"Daniel!"

"Ja...!"

"Would you two just cut it out!" Barked Sam into their back-and-forth.

"Sorry, Sam."

"Yeah, sorry, Carter."

Jack turned to Gibbs: "Ok, first things first: the higher-ups decided to stick with their first... decision. I'm sorry."

Gibbs gave one hard nod. He knew it was improbable they would change their minds and allow Ziva in. DiNozzo only frowned but resigned also. Tim looked uncomfortable as if contemplating whether to be angry or understanding.

"The good news is, Carter found something on the spy..." Continued Jack.

"I think, I found something. I don't know yet. Agent McGee, could you I get your assistance, please?" Asked Sam.

"Oh. Of course."

The both of them went to the computers by the wall, talking animatedly.

"Well, what do we do now?" Asked Tony.

"I don't know, technically, it's your investigation." Replied O'Neill.

"Jack..." Daniel's long-suffering tone was almost tangible.

"How about a little field trip?"

"We're going to visit everyone who knew Lieutenant Johnson, before and after he got transferred, aren't we, boss?" This time the long-suffering voice belonged to Tony.

"Yes, DiNozzo." Gibbs was daring Tony to contradict him.

"Right, then... I'll go get us some... _A lot_ of coffee."

"Hey, Ziva," came from the speaker, when she picked up the phone.

"Tony? Where are you?"

"I'm just calling I'll be about 20 minutes late, we went with Gibbs ask some questions Johnson's former co-workers. Do you want me to bring some coffee?"

"No, I made some already." She forgot Tony is coming in the evening, to help her study for the citizenship exams. Fortunately, his delay gave her the chance to hide her research on Colonel O'Neill. She still didn't find anything in the Mossad files, not that she thought she would.

"Ok, see you then."

"Bye."


End file.
